Bootstrap's Sacrifice
by Rose DiVerona
Summary: Oneshot alternate ending to At World's End. What if Will wasn't the one to stab the heart of Davy Jones? Some Will/Elizabeth romance at the end.


A/N: When I first saw the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" in theaters last May, I was devastated by the ending. I love Will (no, I am NOT just an Orlando Bloom obsessee), and I was upset he and Elizabeth didn't exactly get their happily-ever-after. Don't get me wrong - I do believe the end was effective and would have become less effective had it differed from what it was. I'm not saying I _think _it should have been different, just that I _wish _it could have been. So I wrote my own alternate ending. I never posted it, and I just found it, so here it is.

Warning: Fluffy, probably a little over the top at the end. Give me a break - it's 1:30 in the morning where I am.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean. I don't even own much of the dialogue in this one-shot, as it was taken directly from the movie.

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**Bootstrap's Sacrifice**

Jack stood, frozen, unsure of what to do. All around him was madness, as the whirlpool that was Calypso tried her hardest to suck both the _Dutchman _and the _Pearl _down to…well, to Davy Jones' Locker. Pirates on both sides were sliding along the slippery decks, unable to withstand the furious waves. Jack didn't know where the rest of his crew was, and right now it didn't matter. The scenario playing out right in front of him was what was important.

Elizabeth was down, lying fearfully on the deck. Will had fallen, too, a few feet from his love. Davy Jones himself loomed overhead, wielding a magnificent sword and terrible to behold. It was clear his intentions were to kill both young people, but he had to have his little triumphant speech first. Which mean Jack had maybe twenty seconds to decide what to do.

"Ahh…love; a dreadful bond, and yet so easily severed..." Jones' voice swam in and out of Jack's consciousness. He knew what he had to do – he had to stab the heart and end this. Hadn't he said before that he could be the _Flying Dutchman_'s captain? But now that the time had come…ten years without setting foot on land…

Jack loved the sea, and he belonged there. But land meant Tortuga, and Giselle and Scarlett, and rum. It was nice to get off the sea every once in a while. And yet, he recalled what Elizabeth had once said to him. That eventually, curiosity was going to make him want to do the right thing. Well, Jack _was_ curious about being captain of the _Dutchman_. And he knew it would certainly be the right thing to save both his friends from death. To allow them a life together, as it should be.

But _still_...

Jack heard someone come up to his shoulder. He turned, dagger poised to attack – but it was only Bootstrap. Bill Turner locked eyes with Jack, then nodded slightly and lifted the heart out of the other man's hand, holding it in his own palm.

Jones moved suddenly, raising his sword to stab Will – and Bootstrap saw and moved instantaneously, plunging the dagger deep into the heart. Jones paused, shocked. He turned halfway and saw Bootstrap with the dagger and damaged heart. Then he moaned once and lost his footing, tumbling off the side of the ship into the roiling ocean below. The waves rushed him through the "heart" of the whirlpool, and then he was gone.

Will and Elizabeth both scrambled to their feet.

"Father!" Will shouted, taking half a step toward his father, who had collapsed.

Several crew members of the _Dutchman _blocked his path, changing before their very eyes into humans. The coral, shells, and other sea debris they had acquired fell off of them.

"No!" one of them rasped. "You must get off the ship. Or perish. The _Dutchman _must have a captain. Part of the ship, part of the crew…"

The other pirates took up the chant as they moved forward to surround Bootstrap.

Jack, Will, and Elizabeth now realized that the ship was slowly sinking beneath them into the sea. Jack caught Will's eye and nodded toward the ropes holding the billowing sails of the _Dutchman_ in place. Catching on, Will pulled Elizabeth to him and cut through the ropes with one clean stroke of his sword. He caught hold of the ends of a few; Jack did the same. The wind picked up the sails and sent the three flying into the air even as the deck left their feet and disappeared under water. Their last view was of the crew huddled around Bootstrap with a dagger and the chest. Elizabeth, staunch though she usually was, hid her eyes in Will's chest.

Miraculously, they landed safely on the _Pearl_, where the rest of the crew waited, having seen what happened. The whirlpool had gone with the _Dutchman_, and the sea was almost unnaturally calm. The armada of ships under Beckett still waited for a confrontation. The rest of the Pirate Brethren Court hovered nearby as well.

"Bootstrap…stabbed the heart. Jones is gone." Jack explained.

A sigh of relief echoed around the ship. Will remained silent, fixing his gaze sourly on the wooden deck.

"The armada's still out there," Gibbs pointed out. "The _Endeavor_'s coming up hard to starboard. And I think it's time we embrace that oldest and noblest of pirate traditions."

Jack's gaze was fixed on the East India Company ships. "Never actually been one for tradition," he murmured. He approached the rail and turned to face the crew. "Close haul her! Luff the sails and lay her in irons!"

Barbossa spoke up angrily. "Belay that, or we'll be a sitting duck!"

Jack countered him. "Belay that 'belay that'!"

"But cap-" Gibbs started anxiously.

"Belay!" Jack interrupted, ignoring his second mate's attempts at argument.

Will and Elizabeth exchanged worried looks. Everyone on the _Pearl _watched as the _Endeavor _crept steadily closer…

Without warning, something erupted out of the sea. It was the _Dutchman_ – with Bootstrap at the helm. Will's heart leapt and his face lit up upon catching sight of his father, fully human once more. Jack smiled triumphantly as the other ship maneuvered its way to the opposie side of the _Endeavor_, trapping the British ship between its enemies. What he wouldn't give to see Beckett's face right now…

"Fire!" he called.

"Fire!" Barbossa bellowed.

"Fire!" Will and Elizabeth echoed.

The call was taken up all along the _Pearl _and the _Dutchman_, the pure exhilaration of sure victory blazing in the victor's veins. Sure enough, even as both pirate ships fired round after round from their cannons, the _Endeavor _did nothing, stunned speechless by the trap. It was quickly blown to smithereens. What remained sank within seconds.

The rest of the armada began to retreat rather rapidly.

"They're turning away!" Marty announced.

The response was deafening. Hats were thrown, cheering was taken up on all the ships of the Brethren Court. Will swept Elizabeth into his arms and kissed her. Jack grinned and addressed Gibbs, who was standing right beside him.

"Mr. Gibbs?"

"Cap'n?"

He took off his hat and handed it to the man. "You may throw my hat if you like."

Gibbs looked astonished. "Aye, aye, Cap'n!" He threw the hat. "Hooray!"

"Now go and get it," Jack said calmly.

Below, Elizabeth turned to her husband. "What now?" she asked.

He gazed out at the sea. "My father is captain of the _Dutchman_. He only gets one day on land every ten years. I want the chance to speak to him today. Get to know each other a little better. Then-" He turned to her, smiling. "Then we start our life together. Husband and wife."

"Where?" Elizabeth asked.

"'Where' isn't important. We'll stay with the _Pearl _for now, until we reach land of some sort, and then decide what to do from there. But we're together and married, Elizabeth Turner."

"Elizabeth Turner," Elizabeth smiled. "That name got me into a lot of trouble once."

"I can't promise you we won't have any more trouble," Will admitted. "We're pirates, after all."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Elizabeth kissed him.

And they set out to start a new life, a life that would most likely involve peril and irresistible treasure, but also romance and thrilling sword fights. And pirates. After all, what's life without a few pirates along the way?

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A/N: Corny ending, huh? Couldn't think of a good way to finish it. By the way, that wouldn't be the entire ending to the movie. There would still be the Jack interaction with Scarlett and Giselle. That was just the Will/Elizabeth end. Review? 


End file.
